I was going to ignore this but can't, since it's the second time you mentioned it.
First, Pettitte is not the ace of the Yankee staff, and Matsusaka is not your #3 rookie. The sox spent 103 million dollars to get Japan's #1 pitcher who dominated the WBC and is also 26 years old. You're portraying him as if he were called up from the minors, and I don't buy your analogy that Japan is equal to our AAA here. I have no idea why sox fans need to make everything out to be much greater than it is. Be happy that that Matsusaka got two straight wins against the Yankees, without pitching particularly well. I'm not saying he won't be good, but he was average at best against NY, who, by the way, had only 60-70% of their starting lineup in against him the first time. He would have lost both, if not for NY's putrid pitching.
You're re-writing history for last year as well. The sox were hardly decimated by injuries when the Yankees ended their season last year. Here's approx what their lineup was during the 5 game sweep at fenway:
C Crisp CF
M Loretta 2B
D Ortiz DH
W Pena PH
M Ramirez LF
G Kapler LF
K Youkilis 1B
M Lowell 3B
E Hinske RF
J Lopez C
A Gonzalez SS
Decimated? That's their regular lineup minus Varitek. Who, at the time, had a .719 OPS and less than a 25% CS %. He was arguably the worst catcher in the AL among those qualified at the time of his injury. The injury bug hit AFTER that, starting on the West Coast road trip. You might have an argument if you say injuries prevented them backing into the playoffs via the Wild Card, but to say it caused them to get crushed by the Yankees in August is just not true. You're not stupid, body88, so why do you keep throwing out this crap? Your team is playing great ball right now, enjoy it for what it is. The Yankees threw 2 AA pitchers out the first series, and were missing up to 1/3 of their lineup and still hit the sox' top three hard. I expected NY to get swept, but, in reality, they almost won all three. But they didn't, and I gave the sox credit. Of course, it's all over EEI that the Yanks are cooked.
You're right that a lot of this is not Torre's fault. If Mo does what he normally does, and Meyer doesn't make a mistake to Crawford, the Yanks are 11-9 and nobody cares. But he has made awful BP moves, particulary pulling Wang after 81 pitches, and bringing in a reliever with a G/F ratio of .88 to get a double play, when Wang get more ground balls than anyone. Batting Mientkavich 2nd is beyond stupid. Pinch running for Giambi EVERY time in the 6th and 7th is dumb as well.
The sox did not pay Dice K 100 million dollars. They will pay him 50 mill over his contract. The other 50 million they gave to the lions to negotiate was an investment. Business plan says it will be recouped within 5 years due to the new market in Japan , merchandise, commercials, licensing, and huge new fan base all over the country/world. You should see Fenway when he pitches, its like Japan over there. They actually got him for a great deal. See news clippings saying how sox got upper hand over Scott B on deal. Check out what other major league pitchers are making. Guys who don't have as good of stuff as him. Considering the market 50 over six years is more then reasonable.
You are right you where missing some of your order when the Yankees got swept last week. But you still had a better lineup then 90 percent of the majors tho. Damon, Jeter, Abreu, Arod, Giambi, Cano etc etc. please dont be foolish and tell me that lineup is not stacked. Not to mention Posada/Damon pinch hit. Must not have been to injured. The sox beat the full strength line up two out of three times this weekend anyway. The yanks only scored three runs in there one win. If you don't want to pitch aa guys get pitchers who can stay healthy. Pettite got destroyed on Fri. Wong got roughed up today. Mo got shelled again over the weekend. Those are two of your top starters, and lights out closer. Fact is the sox took five out of six games in this series.
The injury situation was more serious then that last year for the sox. There where also players who left that series with injury. Facts are excues mean nothing. Sox got killed in that series.
Dice K is a rookie to mlb. Playing minor/major league ball in Japan is the same as playing college ball and then playing in the high levels of the minor leagues of the MLB. Pitchers struggle to come from the NL to the AL. Never mind a different country from a league with lesser talent. I guess the CFL is as good as the NFL also. He will need a full year to adjust before you see what he really has. He has great stuff and will be a ace. Most players would crumble under this type of scrutiny/pressure. Youk did not turn pro until 28, age means nothing. You face the pro competition when you face it. The kid just came over from a much lesser league in Japan, that = rookie. No mlb rookie is a rookie to baseball.
If you do not buy the talent level in the japan league being on par with the triple a level here take it up with the experts. They are the ones who said that, not me. Although it is quit obvious the talent level in Japan is far below the best players we have here. The yankees lineup is the best lineup in the world. Then again the CFL is the same as the NFL right?
Dice K was dealing (He did have 7 k's) against the Yankees until the fourth when he walked 3 batters and the Yankees got lucky on a check swing bloop by Damon. It is obvious his lack of ML experience allows him to get rattled at times. He almost got out of the inning, if not for that lucky bloop. He showed his promise when he then bounced back to retire six straight yankees to finish the night with seven strike outs pitching into the 7th inning. None of the Yankees where hitting the ball hard against him other then that one single by Jeter. The yanks runs came on little bloops that lucked into gaps. Its not how you score tho, so I guess that is a technicality in the grand scheme of things. Does not mater really, the sox won 11 - 4 . Andy gave up 5 runs and 5 walks in 4 innings. Sox where hitting the ball hard all day. The full strength Yankee lineup simply could not make good contact on the ball all night. Dice has great stuff but is unpolished at this point. He will need a year to fully adjust imo.
Dice k has been hovering between #1 and # 3 for most strike outs in the majors depending on the game. At one point he lead the leauge. He is a game behind Santana. Pretty nice achievment for a number three guy who just came over from a dif country. That imo might be a indicator of his potential talent. He has great stuff and would be undefeated if he had some damn run support in those early loses. He lost those games by a run (literally) in very low scoring games. Had to face guys like Fernandez throwing shut outs. To expect him to be totally lights out as a rookie to the MLB is laughable. He has been a great third starter. He clearly has the stuff to be a ace, and one day he will. People who expect him to be 100 percent lights out as a rookie to the MLB are usually rival teams fans. Wonder why.
The sox beat the Yankees two out of three times this weekend. Today the sox worst pitcher took on Wong. Is he not your ace? The Yankees lineup was full strength, and the Sox went deep three times and scored 7 runs. When Lester comes back to the number 5 spot the rotation will be even better.
The "woulda coulda" won stuff is invalid. The sox could beat the Yankees 12 to 4 if "this happened" or "that happened" today. But it didnt so they beat them 7 - 4.
I agree Torre is not to blame for this. He is a great manager and cannot control the Yankees thin pitching even at full strength. He cannot control player performance and firing him would be a huge mistake. People need to show the man a bit more respect in the media.
If sox fan put a positive spin on things like you say, yanks fans should do the same. I expect the average Yankee fan to start making Arods life hell again when he stops setting records. Granted he did nothing against the sox over the weekend. Sox fans tend to support there players no matter what. I am not saying all Yankees fans do not, but the boo birds where out in force last year before arod started having a great year in 07.
I do not think the yankees are done. They have a crazy lineup, and they will contend. It is only May 1st. I do feel the sox have the better team overall when all things are considered. That means nothing tho. I do not think the sox are going to run away with the division nor do I think the yankees will fade away. It is only May. The yankees will contend and be in it until the end. Great players, great manager. How can they not?
